Tactician's tale
by Kyiea
Summary: The story of Mark, the tactician who rose high enough to save the world from the threat of Nergal and the dragons. A story of where he went, where he came from, why he appeared and his continued duties. Rated for safety. genre's may change
1. Prologue

Hi all, I decided to write this because, for me, one of the biggest mysteries in Fire Emblem has always been the tatician from "The Blazing Sword" or as some may know it, "Fire Emblem US" (The first english fire emblem). Where did s/he come from, what was his/her purpose and why did s/he so readily offer his/her assistance to such a small band of travelers twice when his/her skills were great enough that s/he was sought out by every militant nation on the continent? This is the story of Mark, and his continued duties after the war with Nergal had ended.

To begin with a simple prologue to our story, which is in fact, the epilogue to the story of three young nobles. Note that this goes on the (impossible) assumption that Eliwood was the games protagaonist, all troops were recruited and they were all strong enough to be able to fight the dragon with everyone and all Kishuna missions were done. In other words everything that could happen, did. (I know it's not at all factual, just go with it.)

Disclaimer: I do not own anything featured in Fire Emblem, it all belongs to intelligent systems.

* * *

"Mark, are you alright?" Lyn knelt beside me, rubbing my back as I held my head in pain. This was nothing new to me, I was used to the rush of visions, however, these were painful, numerous and painful. As the pain subsided, I rose to my feet and looked at the corpse sprawled before us. Jaffar, Matthew and Legault checked the man to ensure he was truly dead, of course even if he was, I doubt he'd stay down for long. The great sage Athos approached and knelt beside the corpse.

"My old friend... I am sorry that it had to come to this in the end." Athos said this, but he knew as well as I did that the fight wasn't over. The many people around us seemed content to believe that Nergal's last words were empty threats made in desperation, but we knew better. I could sense it, just as he could and it seems that our young friend Nils also noticed something. Ever since his death, the quintessence that Nergal had collected had been flowing somewhere. It had been flowing into the back chambers of the temple we were in. It had been flowing... to the dragon's gate. Athos glanced at me and Nils gave me a look that reminded me of a frightened puppy. I nodded.

"We aren't finished yet." I said authoritatively to the small army. Nergal left us a final gift, we have to move, quickly." I run into the back chambers with Athos and Nils close on my heels. The rest followed us as quickly as they could. "I knew it." I said as I arrived at the gate. It had been opened by Nergal's quintessence and pulled three enormous dragons to face us.

"Dragons!?" Eliwood screamed. "H-how?"

"Nergal, using his final breath opened the gate. He decided that... if he can't have the world then it can die."

"That Blackheart." Hector muttered under his breath

"Perhaps... not so much. All the same, we must stop them here."

"But how are we supposed to take on three dragons?!" Lyn exclaimed, unconfidently.

"We have no choice in the matter, I will guide you, so prepare yourselves." Everyone drew their weapons, fully prepared to give their lives in this fight.

"Stop." A hollow voice hovered over us. "The girl's powers will aid you." Without warning, Bramimond, the umbra mage of the eight legendary heroes appeared before us. "Everyone lend me your power." He said as small streams of energy flowed out of each of us and into Bramimond. "With this power, enhance the force of necromancy and return the girl to us." A circle of light appeared before the man and Ninian, and old ally of ours once killed by Eliwood, appeared within.

"Where am I?" She asked frightened.

"Your powers are necessary." Bramimond responded. "These children are lost, help them return to their home."

"My power? No, I can't."

"You must, with it you can stop these children and let them return home. We need your strength." Ninian ook a deep breath.

"Alright, I will." Ninian took a step forward and raised her hands. "Please calm yourselves and return." Two localized blizzards appeared aroudn the fire dragons causing them to collapse and be sucked back into the dragon gate, however, one still stood, angrier than ever. Ninian collapsed.

"You must handle the final dragon, I will care for the girl." With that, Bramimond and Ninian disappeared. I wasted no time.

"Eliwood, prepare Durandal. Hector, Armads. Lucius, we need the force of Aureola and Nils, you must give Ninian's grace to Lucius. Great Sage, please aid us with the strength of your fire. Everyone else, prepare your strongest weapons, this will be the hardest battle of our campaign." They wasted no time. Their weapons were ready within seconds. Ok, Lucius, get us started with Aureola. Hector follow with Armads. Eliwood, Lyn support Hector and attack." They followed my orders, getting greatly burned by the dragon's breath in the process.

"It's no good... if I let up for a moment the dragon will finished someone off." Then an idea dawned on me. I turned, scanning the troops for a certain scholar. Finally I saw him, waiting behind the others in his thick robes. "Canas!" I yelled. "Do you still have that tome of Luna!?"

"Yes, I do." The monocled man said as he produced a very worn tome.

"That's it. I'm trusting you to use Luna and finish that dragon."

"Of course... as you wish." Canas ran towards the dragon as fast as he could before it could recover from the continued strikes of the dragon-slaying weapons. Throwing his heavily sleeved arms into the air, he cast the exceedingly powerful elder magic. The fire dragon let out a terrible shriek as the swirling blackness flung itself into it's body. The dragon collapsed and we watched as it was sucked back into the dragon gates as the previus dragons had been before. I finally released my breath. Suddenly a surge of pain ran though my head, it felt just like it had when Nergal died. I should've known better than to stay so close to Athos, the now broken man who Eliwood held in his arms. Lyn and Hector quickly took up positions around him as he gave a prohecy. I struggled to my feet and tried to stagger away. Athos' visions were too much for me. I was grabbed from behind by someone and dragged to the front gate of the dragon's gate.

"Thank you." I said.

"Your welcome." Bramimond's hollow voice answered. "Your power, it is both a blessing and a curse."

"It's usually not that bad, but when people have lived as long as Athos and Nergal then it's just too much for my mind to handle."

"Indeed, and in truth, this ability has no practical applications."

"I agree, however I have understood the thoughts, fears and happiness of people, even if only before their death. I, personally, believe this is a valuable gift."

"Mark, was it? I have believed that you were an intelligent young man, but more and more you force me to question who you are."

"Don't think on it to hard, there isn't much to tell. I was a warrior's son, but never suited to combat, so I decided to try my hand at being a tactician."

"I am the Umbra mage of the eight heroes. I no longer exist as myself, I am but a mirror of the person in front of me, and as such, I know when you're lying to me."

"Talking to myself really becomes disturbing after a short while."

"It is time I return to the shrine of seals. Fargus awaits you on the shore of the island. Goodbye, young tactician." Bramimond disappeared into thin air, leaving me alone."

"There you are." I turned, looking back into the shrine to see Fiora, one of the Ilian pegasi mercenaries coming towards me. "We've been looking for you, Athos has passed away and the lords wish to speak with you."

"I see, thank you Fiora." I walked with Fiora back to the inner gate where Eliwood, Hector and Lyn awaited me.

"There you are Mark. Athos is dead, he gave us a prophecy about the fate o the continent... however, it is not our battle to fight."

"For now, we're returning to our homes." Hector added in, "It's time to begin rebuilding what Nergal destroyed.

"For the time being, Mark, I wish for you to be my guest in Pherae."

"It would be an honour, lord Eliwood."

"Then let's go, it's time we leave this place behind, hopefully forever." The large group of warriors were quick to gather and we all left the gate.

"My lords! you're alright!"

"Rest well, Merlinus, we're leaving now."

"Yes my lords." With the old man Merlinus rejoining the group, we were at last complete. We headed to the shore where Fargus awaited us.

* * *

"Mark!" Eliwood called as he entered my guest chamber. He was wearing robes of pure white, today was his coronation as the new marquess of Pherae, in place of his late father. "How are you today?"

"Good, my lord. However I must inform you that I will be leaving after the ceremony."

"Must you truly?"

"I'm afraid so, your majesty. I have been here for too long, it is time I returned to my travels as my father wished for me."

"I see, I will miss you. Please promise that you'll stopp in whenever you're passing by."

"Of course, my lord."

"Please, stop calling me lord. Call me Eliwood, we've been through too much together for you to continue as such even in private."

"Very well, Eliwood."

"Eliwood, are you here?" Both Eliwood and I turned towards the door as one of my oldest friends, Lyn of Caelin, entered.

"Lyndis." Eliwood greeted her happily.

"And hello to you as well Mark." I nodded.

"Good to see you again Lyn. Are you here for Eliwood's coronation?"

"Well, yes but... I have requested that Caelin be assimilated into Ostia, Hector has promised to treat them all well."

"Why would you do that?"

"Well... I intend to stay in Pherae." A smile crossed my lips.

"I see... congratulations to you both." Eliwood smiled, embarrassed.

"Thank you Mark, but there is one last thing... we've talked it over and, we would like you to be godfather of our first child and give him or her a name."

"I see... I accept, of course. It is an honour. As for names, if it is a boy name him Roy and for a girl... Lini."

"Roy and Lini... beautiful names. Thank you Mark, you don't know how much this truly means to the two of us."

"It was an honor recieveing the request."

"Where will you go, Mark?"

"I may say goodbye to Rebecca and Dorcas and afterwards... I will most likely head north. There is someone in Ilia whom I wish to meet with."

"I see. Lyn stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me. "Be safe, the people are Sacae are honourable, if you're ever in trouble you can seek aid there."

I couldn't help but smile at Lyn and wrap my arms around her as well. "Thank you."

I stayed as far as the coronation, but slipped out shortly afterwards. I'm not particularly comfortable with long goodbyes and decided to make myself scarce.

"Mark!" someone called out to me as I snuck away from the castle. I turned to find Ninian and Nils coming towards me.

"Is something wrong you two?"

"No, we just wanted to tell you that we're going back to Valor. We're going through the dragon gate, to the world of dragons."

"Perhaps that is best, but... are you sure." I had directed this rather speccifically at Ninian, who seemed to be struggling with the decision far more than Nils. She turned back to Pherae castle, longingly.

"Yes, I'm sure. Staying any longer, would only bring me pain. Seeing him dancing with Lyn back there was almost too much." I smiled, slightly, and hugged them both.

"Aenir would be proud." I whispered to them. "Fargus and Dart are likely still in Badon, go now and I'm sure you can find them." The two took each other's hand and left together, towards the port of Badon in Ostia. "I wish the best of luck and all the happiness you deserve in your new world!" I called after them. They turned and waved one last time, before continuing on their way. And with that, it was time for me to be on my way. My first stop was a mountain in Ilia to the north. to see an old woman named Niime.

* * *

Well, that's that. I'm not sure where this story will end or what's going to happen... I just wanted to put my thoughts about the tactician down on paper (or in files in this case.) Well review and thank you for reading.


	2. A new quest begins

Well, here's another chapter.

Enjoy

* * *

I made my way north, through the plains of Sacae, to the snowy land of Ilia. The person I was looking for was an old woman. The hermit of the mountain and well known as a master of elder magic, Niime. My first stop was a small town near the border of Ilia and Sacae. I knew of Niime through rumour alone, and really hadn't the faintest idea where she might be, beyond that she lives on a mountain. I had to collect information, luckily, Ilia was a mercenary nation and in many cases that meant a simple jingle of coins would be enough to loosen people's lips. I stopped a woman who was walking down the street.

"Excuse me ma'am, is there a place in this town where mercenaries will commonly congregate."

"I'm afraid not, we don't have any guild branches in a small town like this. But if you visit the mayor's house then there are a few mercenaries there. We had to call them in to deal with some bandits that have nested up in the mountains. You may be able to speak to them."

"I see, where is the mayor's house?" She pointed down the street.

"Just follow this road, it's the biggest house on the other side of town."

"I see, thank you ma'am." I bowed to the kind old woman and headed towards the mayor's home.

"Who're you?" A large, gruff man asked me.

"I'd like to meet with the mercenaries staying here, sir." I responded politely.

"Get out of here, they're here to help us, we don't need you hiring them away right now."

"Please sir, I'm not looking to hire them, I wish to speak with them, that is all."

"Leave." I could see there was no point in attempting to reason with him any longer so I turned to leave.

"What's going on out here." A familiar voice said from behind the man. I turned happily to see Fiora walking up behind him.

"Just some rowdy miss. I was just getting rid of him."

"Is that Mark?" Fiora looked at the large man, giving him a very upset look. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"If this man is a rowdy, then you must be a bandit. He's an old friend of mine so let him in." The man looked annoyed but stepped aside all the same. I entered the house and followed Fiora to a small room where there were two other people waiting. Both of them looked young and inexperienced, they couldn't have been more than trainees. The young man was polishing his sword almost neurotically, muttering something to himself, probably trying to calm his nerves. There was also a young woman who seemed to be carefully weighing her spear and at times hopped off the ground.

"Looks like you've been given a couple of trainees."

"I wish they were trainees, they were just accepted to take the test to join the guild. Helping me with the bandits is that test. With me here, there's little chance they'll die and I determine whether they're accepted according to how they do in battle."

"Sounds like a fun job." Fiora audibly sighed and shook her head. Then she looked up at the two.

"Zealot, Yuno! Stop being rude, I brought a guest here.

"Both the young soldiers jumped into position in front of Fiora."

"Well you certainly command respect."

"Well... with Florina and Farina gone I'm one of the only high ranked Pegasi knights left in the guild, so I get my respect. Zealot, Yuno, this is Mark, the tactician that traveled with me during my time in Lord Eliwood's employ." They both bowed to me.

"Pleasure to meet you, sir Mark. I am Zealot, just a beginning cavalier, but I hope to become strong enough to be as great a model as Lady Fiora."

"And I'm Yuno, a pegasi knight in training."

"A pleasure to meet you both. Forgive me, but you both seem rather young to be on the battliefield."

"I am 13 sir." Yuno answered.

"I, myself, am 16 sir." Zealot said.

"You're really bringing them with you on a job?"

"It's a simple job, I could handle it myself honestly, but they're here to prove themselves and show that they should be allowed into the guild. We have particularly high hopes for Yuno because with my sister's gone we're short on pegasi knights."

"Florina and Farina? Where did they disappear to?"

"Oh, you didn't hear? Florina is going to marry Lord Hector after his coronation as Marquess Ostia and last time she was seen Farina was stalking Fargus' pirate ship." I chuckled inside as I remembered Dart and Farina's little spats as we all traveled together. "Well, Mark. Why are you here?"

"There's someone I need to meet here in Ilia, but I don't know where I'm going. I was hoping to meet up with some mercenaries and see what kind of information I could dig up."

"Well, I'm here. Who are you looking for?"

"An oldd woman named Niime, better known as the hermit of the mountains."

"Oh, her. Everyone in Ilia knows about her, but very few know how to find her. Rumours say she is always moving around and she only tells a select few how to find her at any given time."

"Excuse me." Zealot interrupted us. "But, I believe, that the mountain hermit has four sons. I'd wager that they'd know where she is."

"Yes Zealot, but of her four sons three have had their souls consumed by dark magic, I doubt we can speak to them." Fiora told him

"Then what of the fourth?"

"It's not that easy, no one knows what her fourth sons name is, or even what he looks like. It's a pretty thoroughly guarded secret."

"Canas!" I shouted as the meaning of the information dawned on me. "Pent and I were speaking to Canas one night and he mentioned that his mother was Niime. It was funny watching Pent freak-out at the information, he ran off to tell Louise right away." Fiora cupped her mouth in one hand and started to laugh.

"S-sorry." She said between snickers. "I just pictured Pent losing his cool."

"It was pretty funny." I said happily. "But if it is Canas then perhaps he'd be willing to take me to her. Thank you Zealot, I never would have remembered without you." Zealot bowed.

"Your welcome sir." Afterwards he and Yuno returned to their preparations.

"Do you know where Canas lives?" I asked Fiora.

"Yes, he lives in this town actually, fairly close to here. I had planned to visit him before I left, shall we go together?"

"Certainly, I'd love to have you along." Fiora turned to the two trainees.

"Both of you rest well, we leave for your first mission tomorrow. Remember, just because an experienced guild member is with you doesn't mean you can't die, so be prepared."

"Yes Commander." The two said in unison with shaky voices.

"Shall we go then?" Fiora asked, as she opened the door.

"Lets." Fiora and I left the mayor's small house and began walking down the street towards Canas' home.

"May I ask something, Mark?"

"What is it?"

"Why, do you want to meet Hermit Niime?"

"Because she is one of the few who can help me."

"What do you mean?"

"I came across it some time ago in a book, that during the time of the eight legends, the three magical masters, Athos, Bramimond and St. Elimine made many prophecies about the future of the continent. Some of these were released to the general public, foretelling great crops or happy miracles. However the more disturbing, depressing and frightening prophecies were hidden in a special book created by the soulless Bramimond. In order to hide the prophecies, Bramimond used the magic of apocalypse to enchant the book, and crush the soul of anyone who attempts to read it. There is, however, one way to do so."

"And Niime can do this?"

"Yes." I reached into my bag and pulled out a thick black, book. "This is that book. It was entrusted to me by Bramimond. The only way to read it is to have mastered elder magic, which is more commonly referred to as dark magic, without having your soul consumed, as Niime's three sons have."

"Is that so? So then, Niime, who has come to master the dark magics but still holds her soul, can read it for you."

"Yes, Bramimond mentioned her specifically. The only other way is to have fully and completely mastered the dark arts as Bramimond has. In other words, to have surrendered your soul, without losing control of it."

"Amazing, but, why do you want to read it." I quickly put the book away in my bag."

"There is something I must know, but that is all I can tell you, Fiora. I'm sorry, but there are some things that I need to keep a secret, at least for now."

"I understand, everyone has those secrets." I smiled.

"Thank you, you are so much more understanding than most others would be." Fiora smiled at me for just a moment before she began to run ahead to a small house in front of us. "We're here." She told me happily as she started knocking on the door. After a short time, a woman who appeared to be in her mid 30s answered the door.

"Can I help you?" She asked politely.

"We're looking for Canas." I responded. "Is he here."

"Well, yes, but who may I say is here?"

"Mark and Fiora."

"One moment please." The woman closed the door behind us and went back inside. After a very short time the door opened again, this time, Canas stepped out.

"Mark, Fiora. It really is you. What're you doing here?"

"I'm here on a job and Mark has come seeking someone and wants your help."

"I see, well please come in, don't stand out in the cold." Canas stepped to the side, inviting us in. We walked into the the small house and came to a small den where the woman we had met earlier was cradling a baby. Canas walked up and sat beside her. "Allow me to introduce you, this is my wife, Emily. And this is our son who was born just a few weeks ago, Hugh." Fiora immediately walked over to Emily and began fawning over Hugh, who clearly wasn't asleep as he played with Fiora's hands. I, on the other hand, had an important conversation I had to have with Canas.

"Canas, I'm sorry, but I don't have time to chat right now. What I need to ask is extremely important, please listen."

"Of course, Mark. Anything for you, it was you who led us to victory."

"I need to meet someone, please Canas, I need you to tell me how to find your mother, Niime."

"My mother? It's not a no, but why would you wish to meet with her?" I noticed that Fiora and Emily had both taken their attention away from the excited Hugh and were staring at me. I was certain that I had a very intense glare on my face as I started my next sentence.

"Listen to me, Canas. I'm going to tell you why I wish to meet your mother. And I know you, you will want to know more. Listen to me, Canas, under no circumstances are you to delve any deeper into what I am about to show you. No matter how great your curiosity becomes, you cannot delve deeper." I said this with an unusual intensity behind my voice, not out of anger, but out of fear. Fear that my friend would lose his soul to Bramimond's power and his own insatiable curiosity. I reached into my bag and pulled out the book. "You are not to read this book, Canas. It is a book given to me by Bramimond, which contains many secret prophecies that he, Athos and St. Elimine foretold. Bramimond has cursed it. Only someone with pure and complete mastery over the secrets of elder magic can safely read this book, that is why I need your mother." Canas stared at the book in my hands. I could feel his gaze, tearing into it. I was certain that his mind was screaming at him to grab the book and read it. But under no circumstances could I allow that. "Canas, snap out of it. I need to know how to find your mother."

"Tell me Mark, what will you do with the book, after you've heard what you need to."

"It's of no use to me. I'll leave it with Niime, she's the only one who can read it anyways. If I ever wanted to know more I'd have to come back here, or go see Bramimond and without Athos' help I have no ability to meet with him."

"I see then."

"Canas, perhaps you can convince your mother to read you some of what's in this book, but never under any circumstances are you to attempt to read it yourself."

"Yes Mark, I-I understand."

"It's not just for you Canas, if you let your curiosity get the better of you here then Emily and Hugh will suffer as well."

"You're right, I must resist the tempations." Emily and Fiora finally spoke up.

"Where are you two staying tonight." Emily asked, desperately trying to change the topic of conversation.

"I'm staying at the mayor's house, and I have a couple of mercenary apprentices with me as well, so I can't stay much longer."

"I've got nowhere to stay right now. I've been camping or just sleeping wherever people haven't raised a fuss for awhile now."

"Then you'll stay here with us for the night Mark."

"Thank you for the offer, I think I'll take you up on it." I removed my bag and handed it to Fiora. "Take the book with you for the night, I don't trust Canas right now."

"Yes, of course."

"So, Canas." I relocated back to our original topic. "Can you tell me how to find your mother?"

"I'll take you there myself. She constantly moves around, but I know where she should be right now."

"Excellent, so where are we going?"

"We'll be hiking up the south side of the mountain."

"Oh!" Fiora exclaimed. "That's where the bandits have nested, if you want, why don't we all leave together."

"Why not." I replied. "If that's where they've nested then we'll need to wait for you to get rid of them before we can move on anyways. I'll even lend my advice where I can.

"Yes and I'm sure my magic could be of help as well." Canas added.

"Alright then, we'll be leaving early tomorrow morning, if that works for you two." I nodded.

"No problem, I'm an early riser.

"I can be up at anytime if it gives me an opportunity to learn some of the secrets held within that book."

"Alright, I'll see you both tomorrow." Fiora took my bag and went towards the door.

"See you tomorrow." I said as she left.

"It's getting late Mark." Emily mentioned. "Have you eaten yet?"

"Yes, thank you Emily. I think I'll turn in, it's been a long day. I'm sorry for being so rude when you've so kindly offered me a place to stay."

"Don't worry about it Mark, see, even Hugh think it's a good idea." I looked down at the bundle of blankets in her arms. His little hands reached towards me and grabbed my finger. I couldn't help but smile. It was this, people like Emily, and the young people who will inherit the continent, like Hugh. It's for these people, that I must hear what's in that book, so I can understand what Bramimond had told me.

* * *

Well that's another chapter down. And yes, Everything that Mark is saying is supposed to be ambiguous at this point, don't worry, everything will be made clear, given time.

Well, Review and thank you for reading.


	3. A surprising encounter

I'm getting into this one, here's the next chapter.

Enjoy

* * *

Canas and I awoke early the next morning. We ate and left without waking Emily or Hugh. Despite this, we had still kept Fiora and her trainees waiting for a us

"There you two are." Fiora said, sounding somewhat disappointed.

"Sorry, we didn't realize you meant dawn." I apologized. Fiora sighed.

"It's fine, I wasn't clear. And hear, take this." Fiora handed me my bag.

"Oh, thanks. So which way are we going?"

"Out the north exit, over there. We should be able to reach the path that leads up the south side of the mountain from there."

"Sounds good to me." I said as I started walking with Canas. Zealot mounted his horse and followed us while Fiora and Yuno led from overhead. I couldn't help but be thankful that my robes were so thick, it was a blistering cold in Ilia that morning. After a walk which felt like it took hours we arrived at a path up the mountain. Looking up, I couldn't see the peak past the clouds. I had to wonder how high up Niime was living. "So how high are we going?" I asked Canas.

"I'm not sure yet, we'll have to get higher before I can know."

"What?"

"My mother has a system that tells the people who know what to look for where she is at any given time. Once we reach the right place, I can tell you exactly where she is."

"I see, interesting. Shall we be going then?" Fiora nodded and took off again along with Yuno. Canas, Zealot and I followed behind as quickly as we could. As we came around a corner we found that Fiora and Yuno had landed and were waiting for us.

"The bandits are just ahead." Fiora told us.

"Let me take a look." I walked forward and, without being seen, took a look at the bandit's formation and relative strength. "They don't look particularly strong, but you can never be too careful. Give me a rundown of what you've all brought with you."

"This was going to be a simple job, I left most of my stuff back at the guild. I just brought some iron weapons and an elixer. Zealot was given iron weapons, so he's equipped the same as me as well as a vulnerary. Yuno, on the other hand brought along a slim lance and a javelin, and of course a vulnerary."

"I see, well the weak weapons shouldn't be an issue, especially with you here. What did you bring with you Canas."

"A tome of flux, a vulnerary and the physic staff you gave me back before the battle with Nergal."

"Physic? excellent. I think we can beat them down easily enough." My ears perked up and I turned back to the bandits. "Shh, be quiet."

"See anyone?" One of the bandits asked in a monotone voice.

"No." The other said, just as soulless.

"Something seems wrong here." I muttered to myself.

"Mark, what are you listening to?" Fiora asked me.

"The first thing a tacticion of small groups needs to learn is the ability to gather intelligence on the enemy. In other words, I've trained my ears and eyes, and those bandits don't sound right."

"What do you mean?"

"They feel soulless. Like they're... not there. They're being controlled? Or, no... they sound like... morphs."

"Morphs? Are you certain?"

I took another look at them. They all had black hair and the ones close enough to see had golden eyes. "Yes, no doubt, that's what they seem like to me. Well, if they are morphs then we should remove them now."

"But who created them?" Canas asked rubbing his chin.

"Hmmm, perhaps they're leftovers. They don't seem particularly strong. They definetely aren't the type that Nergal would have sent against us."

"But then, why are they attacking?"

"Perhaps it was an old plan of Nergal's to help collect quintessence. Though it certainly doesn't make sense. Zealot, Yuno, I want you two to hold back and do what you can but leave the bulk of the enemies to Fiora and Canas, you never know who or what could be waiting when we're dealing with morphs." Both of the trainees nodded at my orders, clearly frightened. "Ok then. Fiora, Canas You two need to take point. Fiora, trade your elixer for Canas' vulnerary, if you're in trouble then Canas can help you with the physic staff." Fiora and Canas traded their items. "Alright then, Fiora take the eastern half, Canas head along the western half. Zealot, Yuno stay near me and handle the enemies near the entrance to the path here." As I finished giving basic tactical orders, my 'troops' took their positions and began the assault on the bandits. Fiora took her sword and mowed through their ranks as they attempted to set themselves upon her, Canas was in no worse shape. Even Zealot and Yuno were having an easy time with the enemies, despite their inexperience and weakness.

"They're so weak..." I muttered to myself. Not only were they weak but their weapons were ready to fall apart, it was a wonder that they ever managed to attack anything. I began to scan the battlefield, they had to be doing something. And I was right, there was a hut near the end of the path and a few bandits had begun to move inside. "What's in there? Fiora!" I called to her, the hut near the end of the path, check it out for us, quickly. "It would seem that she heard me as she left the bandits she had been fighting and began moving towards the hut. I felt the air change suddenly. It felt like... like we were back at the dragon gate, just before our final battle.

"Fiora! get away! back here, quickly!" Fiora looked back at me confused as an enormous blast of fire shot from the roof of the hut, nearly hitting Fiora as she made a quick and desperate retreat. Fiora flew back to us as a hooded man walked out of the hut.

"Is that a mage?" Fiora asked as she landed next to me.

"I don't think so, I responded. To create fire like that, he'd need Athos' power, the infernal element, forblaze."

"Then what is he."

"I think we're about to find out." Fiora looked away from me, back to the man who had hunched over and appeared to be shaking. He was still a distance away from us, but if that fire from earlier was any indication then that wouldn't pose him a problem. He reared his head back and began to change. My eyes grew wide as he became a fire dragon before our very eyes. No, that's not right. He wasn't a fire dragon, not even a small one. According to Bramimond the dragons we fought at the dragon gate were newborns, but this one is smaller than they were. Suddenly, a thought dawned on me and I quickly turned to Zealot and Yuno. "You two have to get out of here now!" I ordered them.

"But-"

"No! leave now!" They complied, seeming somewhat afraid of what I would do if they hadn't. I felt myself lift off the ground and fall several feet to the side as fire rushed past me. It seems that Fiora had pushed me before flying above the flames.

"What are we supposed to do?"

"I don't know, I'm thinking." I told her, not sure how I was going to defeat a dragon with only two ill-equipped fighters. Suddenly I realized that Canas was nowhere in sight. "Have you seen Canas?" I asked Fiora.

"No, I can't see him, even from up here." The dragon's shriek caused us both to look back as an orb of dark magic found it's way into it's body. We spotted Canas, hiding behind the side of a cliff, it seems that he had been trying to get close enough to attack, even without my orders. the dragon breathed fire into the area where Canas was hidden. Afterwards, Canas, his robes somewhat charred, came running out while attempting to drink his elixer. "Fiora, get in there and help him."

"But I'm not even sure the weapons I have with me can harm that thing."

"We have no choice, Canas' magic seems to be working so see what you can do to distract it." Fiora took off, sword drawn and attempted to attack the dragon's head, drawing it's attention. Canas cast flux at the dragon immediately afterwards, causing it to take more damage. Flux was doing damage, but it was clear that Fiora's attacks were doing nothing more than irritating the dragon as it's flame attacks came quicker and quicker with less waiting time in between. "They can't keep this up." I muttered to myself as I desperately searched for something that could help us. "No!" I watched helplessly as Fiora was knocked off her Pegasi by the dragon's tail. Canas immediately pulled out his physic staff and began healing her, but the dragon's head was already reeling back ready to consume her within the flames. "Fiora!" I screamed as I began running towards her. I fully understood the frivolity of my actions, but I felt compelled to run towards my old friends. Suddenly a quick flash of light rushed through the sky and a clang of metal could be heard near the dragon's head as it was knocked out-of-place and his breath disappeared harmlessly to the sky. Fiora jumped up, hopping on to her pegasi and taking off as quickly as she could. I looked around the field and saw a tomahawk stuck in the ground near the dragon. I looked around, trying to find the identity of the one who threw it. I didn't have to look long as a man jumped from a nearby cliff landing next to the tomahawk and picking it back up. I smiled, knowing that we may stand a chance now as I looked at the sharp-eyed, red haired man returning the tomahawk to it's holding place behind his shield. He pulled out a sword and threw it into the air.

"Fiora, catch!" he yelled as she flew by, grabbing the hilt of the wyrmslayer.

"Good to see you again Raven!" she called down to him as she turned around in the air, ready to strike at the dragon. Raven reached behind his shield brandishing the brave axe that he had disappeared with after the final battle. Fiora swooped in, slashing at the dragon with the wyrmslayer, the scales seemed somewhat damaged by the attack, unlike the previous attack from her iron sword. I could see a way to win this. I immediately started giving orders.

"Fiora, continue using the wyrmslayer in the same place!" I yelled, Fiora complied and continuously swooped around attacking the same place on the dragon's side. The dragon continuously attempted to claw at Fiora or hit her with his tail, with no success. The scales were becoming more and more worn with each attack. "That's it, now Raven use your tomahawk on the same area." Raven smirked at me and complied, brandishing his tomahawk and throwing it towards the damaged scales. The weight of the axe broke through the damaged scale into what appeared to be a soft flesh beneath. Blood flew up from the newly acquired wound. Raven smirked again, drawing his brave axe and jumping towards the wound. sinking his fingers behind the scales, he continuously smashed at the wound with his axe. The dragon attempted to shake him and hit him with his tail. He finally lost his grip, and dropped to the ground, dropping his axe. The dragon seemed rather worse for wear at this point, it seemed that it had lost a lot of blood. Raven quickly got to his feet again.

"I'll end this!" He told us as he brandished the regal blade from behind his shield. "Fiora, give me a hand." Fiora swooped in, grabbing Raven's hand, And dropped him towards the wound. He embedded his sword into the dragon's exposed flesh with great force thanks to the speed he had picked up while falling. He pulled the regal blade from the wound and grabbed the tomahawk before pushing off the dragon and landing on the ground. The dragon swayed and collapsed. Raven confirmed for us that the dragon was indeed dead. The snow around it was being soaked in crimson blood. Fiora landed next to Raven as Canas and I approached.

"I'm glad you were here Raven. It's good to see you again." I said to him.

"You to, Mark." He said in his usual gruff tone. "What was this thing?"

"Did you see it transform?" I asked him.

"It what?" the dragon suddenly started glowing and returned to the form of the hooded man.

"Was this a morph like the bandits?" I muttered to myself as I removed it's hood. He had pink lips, brown hair, and blank black eyes as opposed to the red lips, black hair and golden eyes that all morphs had.

"The bandits were morphs?" Raven asked.

"Raven what are you doing here exactly?" I asked.

"I was hired to deal with the bandits, though I see the guild was going to deal with them, since Fiora's here."

"Why don't you join the guild Raven?" Fiora offered him. "I'm sure they'd give you a high rank in no time."

"Thanks for the offer, Fiora, but I do things my own way. I need to be free to go where my feet take me. I only took this job because I was running low on gold."

"Fair enough, it's good to see you all the same." Raven nodded his head slightly.

"What do you think Mark?" Canas asked me after I finished examining the body.

"I don't know what to think. Honestly, at this point, I'm just hoping that Niime might have some answers for me."

"You're going to see the mountain hermit then?" Raven asked.

"Yeah, she's Canas' mother, that's where we were headed."

"Mind if I tag along, then? I'd also like to learn more about the dragon."

"If it's OK with Canas, then it's OK with me."

"Of course you can come Raven, I see no issue with this."

"Fiora." I turned back to her. "What do you think Zealot and Yuno would do? Should we turn around and find them or do you think they can handle themselves?"

"If they've got any sense then they'll return to town and wait for us, and if they don't then they don't deserve membership in the guild yet anyways. I'll just make this another part of their test."

"Alright, if you say so then we can just move forward from here. Canas, lead the way."

"Of course." With our old friend, Raven, along for the trip, we followed Canas to a small area about halfway up the mountain. Further ahead was a strange stone that jutted out of the ground, it almost seemed like a monument. "One moment as I determine where mother is." Canas walked towards the stone and sent dark magic flowing into it. The stone began to glow black and then a single line of light moved down the stone and on to the ground. It ran across the ground and turned, flowing into the wall of the mountain, causing it to disappear and reveal a path through the centre of the mountain. "It would seem that she is currently staying on the western side of the mountain. Honestly, I must talk to her about settling down, even if it is up on this mountain." Canas began walking through the path, Raven, Fiora and I all followed, slowly as walking through a mountain made us feel rather uncomfortable. After walking for what felt like hours, we exited the mountain on to a small cliff with a cabin. Canas walked up and opened the door. "Mother?" He called inside. He turned back to us. "Come in, she's here."

We all followed Canas into the cabin.

"And who are they?" An old woman sitting on a chair just inside the small, one-room cabin asked.

"Allow me to introduce you. These are some old friends who I fought with during my time with lord Eliwood. This man is Raven, a mercenary from outside of Ilia. This is Fiora, a high-ranking member of the mercenary guild here in Ilia. And lastly, this is Mark, the tactician who led us to victory at the dragons gate." The old woman stood and walked towards me, slowly, supporting herself with her cane. She examined me carefully, looking into my eyes or checking various parts of my face and body.

"So you're the young genius that so many people have spoken about lately." She said as if she was the type to constantly listen to gossip. "Interesting, so why have you come here."

"Lady Niime, I wish to ask your help with something."

"Well, what is it?" She snapped at me. I quickly produced the book from my bag. Her eyes grew wide. "Is that Bramimond's cursed book of prophecy?" She asked, almost entranced by the sight of it.

"It is, ma'am. I cannot read it myself, but there are questions that I believe this book may be able to answer for me. Please, I need you to read it for me."

"Amazing... when I began studying the dark arts it was so I could one day read this book."

"It is worthless to me, ma'am. If you help me answer my questions, then I would be more than happy to leave you the book."

"Excellent, excellent. Of course I shall help you in this matter, but no others! All of you, out! leave us alone now." She said quickly as she pushed my companions out the door into the snow. "Just wait out there." She said as she closed the door. "Now tell me what it is you want to know?"

"First, I need to tell you of what I know of myself."

"Go on, young man."

"It began about two years ago. I awoke in Bern. The only things I knew about myself were that my name was Mark, and that I was an apprentice tactician. I wasn't particularly hungry, and didn't seem to be dehydrated, or injured so I concluded that my loss of consciousness must not have lasted long. I walked for a time, trying to find a village, a city, anything. What I found was a shrine. The shrine of seals. All I could do was approach it hoping that someone was nearby. And it turned out, that someone was. Someone was watching me. The next thing I knew I was inside the shrine, and a strange person stood in front of me, a very strange person. This person had no face. Their voice sounded, exactly like mine and he spoke with all of my mannerisms, or at least the ones I could remember. It was Bramimond of the eight legends, the master of all things dark. He gave me that book and told me that in the coming years the world would be in great danger, and I had an important role to fulfill. a great evil will be revived by a misguided man who has lost faith in humanity. For a time, I thought this referred to Nergal, and I thought the important role that I had to fill was acting as tactician for the army that would defeat him. However, it was only after we had won, during my time with my friend in Pherae, that I remembered the latter part of the prophecy. I had an important role to fulfill... in a battle that I would be unable to take part in. I need to know what my role is and how to accomplish it. If the prophecy is true, then the fact that I was present for Nergal's death means that he was not the man from the prophecy. And thinking back on it, he created his own evil, but never did he revive anything."

"I see... and you're hoping that a clue might be hidden somewhere in the depths of this book?"

"Yes, please, even the smallest hint of where to go from here will be very much appreciated."

"I will see what I can find." Niime slowly and carefully opened the book. I turned my chair around and sat with my back to her so that I would not catch a glimpse of the pages. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, I heard the book close behind me.

"Can you tell me anything?"

"I have only two clues for you. The next step in fulfilling your role is hidden within the depths of the shrine of seals."

"I have to return to the shrine then?"

"Yes, but that is not all. The second clue is that you will need a certain item in order to find your path."

"What do I need."

"Something that will not be easily obtained. You must take with you, the fire emblem." The fire emblem. The royal seal of Bern, a kingdom which currently houses a tyrannical leader. My journey had become that much more difficult.

"I see, thank you for your help. Is the book still closed?"

"Yes, you can turn around." I stood and turned to Niime, bowing to her in thanks. "Do me a favour and let the others back inside, I'm sure they're freezing by now." I couldn't help but chuckle as I let my shivering companions back into the house. It seems that a small blizzard was beginning up on the mountain. Fiora, in particular, looked very cold as she was wearing by far the smallest amount made of the thinnest material. Raven and Canas immediately crowded around the small furnace sitting in the house leaving no room for her.

"Here, take this." I told her as I removed the heavy robes I always wore and wrapped them around her. "These'll keep you warmer than the furnace will anyway."

"Thank you, Mark." She said as she grabbed the robe from either side and huddled on the floor pulling them all the way up above her nose." I couldn't help but laugh again. But it was time to get back to business. "Now that everyone is back in here, there's something else I'd like to ask about. On the way up here we stopped to deal with some bandits that had been attacking the town. However, there were a few issues. First of all, none of the bandits were humans, they were all morphs, zombie like beings that Nergal invented and created. I was willing to chock that one up to them being leftovers after Nergal's death, but the next thing is something I can't overlook."

"What happened?"

"A robed man came out of a small hut, then he transformed into a fire dragon. Well, a smaller version of a fire dragon, but even so. It took all three of them as well as me coordinating their actions in order to defeat it."

"A human, turning into a dragon?!" Niime asked alarmed. Then she started muttering to herself. "Perhaps, it could be but... that wouldn't make." She continued muttering incomprehensible half-sentences to herself as she tried to sort things out. "Well, I see two possiblities." She finally concluded as she returned her attention to the four of us. "Do you know what Manakete are?" Fiora, Raven and I all shook our heads. Canas on the other hand, looked quite fascinated. Among dragons, there are those that are born and live in human form. However, as they grow they create stones called dragon stones. This is the essence of their souls as dragons and with these stones they can transform into dragons. These half beings are known as manakete. They are both fully human and yet fully dragon. They can do anything that humans can do, including raising human offspring who, while having dragon power within them, can not create dragon stones. However, all known manakete were killed during the scouring 980 years ago. The second posssiblity is far more unlikely. Perhaps, it was a manakete war dragon, an even rarer and less possible possibility."

"Mother, even I haven't heard of war dragons." Canas added in.

"Yes, 980 years ago, during the scouring, the dragons were losing due to their inferior numbers. So they created something known as the dark dragon. The dark dragon had the ability to create emotionless dragons, tools of war. These are known as war dragons. And, supposedly, every now and then, manakete war dragons were born. But due to their lack of ability to create dragon stones and their purpose of battle, they remain conflicted in human form until the dragon within them breaks free. War dragons who break free from human form go berserk attacking anything near them without prejudice."

"I see, a war dragon stuck in manakete form..."

"But how would a war dragon exist now?"

"War dragons do not break free of their manakete shells unless surrounded by battle. That creature had probably lived for 980 years in solitude, with no soul, no mind and no way to die. Sad, when you think about it."

"Unbelievable, a war dragon that remained dormant for 980 years..."

"In the book, I noticed a prophecy. One day, supposedly 1000 years after the scouring, war dragons will return. Better than before. There is no detail as to how they will be better, but it is an ominous prophecy to be sure, and if it is true then it is a mere 20 years away."

"Indeed." Niime walked over and closed the window.

"It would seem we have a small blizzard going, I think you four are stuck here for the night, though it's rather small. Canas has a bed here, but the rest of you..."

"It's fine, I can sleep right here." Raven told her from his position leaning against the wall next to the furnace.

"Er, please Fiora take my bed for the nigh-"

"It's alright Canas, I'm comfortable on the floor. I've had to sleep on worse during jobs before."

"I can handle the floor to, don't worry about us Canas."

"Well, yes but we don't have any extra blankets just lying around up here."

"It's fine." I said as I took my robe back from Fiora, who was still shivering. I opened it up fully, and then undid a hook inside which allowed it to open even further. "My robe doubles as a large blanket, why did you think it was so thick? It's more than big enough for me and Fiora."

"W-well, if your sure." I put my robe back together and gave it back to Fiora who immediately wrapped herself back up.

"We're sure Canas, don't worry about it."

"Well then, I think we should all be going to sleep, there isn't much to do around here and you'll all want to leave early in the morning I'm sure."

"Yes, I suppose so. Thank you for all your help, Niime."

"Well, thank you for the book, Mark." I nodded and took my robe back from Fiora again. I quickly detached it into a blanket and set up an area near the furnace for the two of us to sleep. Fiora got under the blanket as quickly as she could. Canas and Niime, were both getting into bed, and Raven, who was towering over us from our position on the floor, was already asleep. I got underneath the blanket with Fiora and rolled on my side, facing away from her. Niime blew out the lantern near her bed and the room went dark other than the small red glow coming from the hole in the furnace. the heat on my feet felt good as I dozed off. I suddenly felt a rush of cold hit my back. Looking back I could see that Fiora, still shivering, had pushed herself against me. Her body really was very cold. I tried to shuffle away from her but she grabbed me from behind.

"Please, Mark?" Fiora whispered to me. I sighed.

"Just this once, ok." I rolled over and pulled Fiora close to me. She rested her head on my chest and somehow managed to fall asleep. Her body was freezing and I could tell that I wasn't going to be sleeping as quickly as I had hoped. My last thought before dozing off, was a hope that no one woke up before either Fiora or me.

* * *

Well, review tell me what you think, and thank you for reading.


	4. The next step

Phew, I got stuck working for awhile there, I really do like this story so I'm hoping to get it going a bit faster.

* * *

I awoke early the next morning, earlier than I usually would. There was an unusual feeling on my chest which had awoken me. Looking down, I found Fiora with her arms wrapped around me, nuzzling her head into my chest. It appeared that she was still asleep. I wiggled my body and tried to get as far back as I could before gently grabbing her arm and moving it off of me so I could get up. As soon as I had her arm away from me, it shot back around me and gripped harder, pulling her body in to mine even tighter.

"Mm, Flora..." She muttered, drowsily. If I'm not mistaken, Flora is the name of her Pegasi. I suppose it makes enough sense that she would sleep with it during jobs, but how I feel like a Pegasi is beyond me.

"Come on, let me go Fiora." I whispered as I tried to pry her fingers off my back. I heard a snort from above me, like someone holding back laughter. I looked up at Raven, who was still in the same position leaning on the wall. One of his eyes was open slightly and he was smirking. "How long have you been watching?" I asked quietly.

"She was funnier before you woke up." He replied.

"Why don't you give me a hand?" Fiora's arms moved up my body around my neck, followed by her head which nuzzled my neck hard enough that it was actually starting to hurt.

"Because it's much more entertaining to watch. Who would've guessed that Fiora, of all people, is a cuddler. Rebecca and Nino would've been my first guesses."

"You know, there are times where I wish you never came out of your shell." I whispered angrily. His smirk grew bigger in response.

"Only with certain people, and sorry to say, you're one of them." Fiora stopped snuggling my neck and instead rested her head right on top of it, which made me even more uncomfortable.

"Raven, help me."

Raven shrugged. "If you say so." He walked towards us and leaned down next to Fiora. He reached over and tickled her nose for a second and then immediately jumped back to his spot on the wall, closing his eyes and pretending he was asleep. Fiora's eyes slowly fluttered open. She lifted her head slightly, putting us face to face, so close that the tips of our noses were touching. She was still half asleep, looking at me through hazy eyes.

"Morning." I said, almost in monotone

"mmm, morni... Huh?" Her face went red as she woke up enough to realize that not only were our faces mere inches apart, but, at this point, she was lying half on top of me. She attempted to get off of me as quickly as she could, but her legs had gotten tangled up with mine causing her to, instead, fall forward knocking me down with her sprawled completely on top of me. Once again our faces got very close, though this time our noses weren't touching. They had missed each other completely and were touching the other person's cheek, making our eyes uncomfortably close. I made sure to keep my calm demeanor through all of this, as it was clear that if both of us began to freak-out then things would just become a tangled mess. I will admit my surprise though, I never expected Fiora to be the type lose her cool over such a mistake and cause this mess. Fiora was suddenly lifted off of me by Raven. He helps her stand up and then picks up my robe-blanket and throws it over her head, covering her up. He probably thought he was being funny. Raven has come out of his shell, but his sense of humour is a touch... underdeveloped. I sighed and stood up. I pulled the blanket off of Fiora and turned it back into a robe, which I quickly put on, because the cabin had become cold overnight.

"Are you alright?" I asked Fiora, calmly.

"I'm sorry." She said, still blushing. "I can't believe that happened."

"sometimes strange things happens, don't worry about it." I said bluntly.

"And I'm sorry for last night, I wasn't thinking clearly."

"I doubt you were, you were absolutely frigid. You were fine to seek warmth there, I don't mind."

"A-and for this morning..."

"Like I said, it happens. Just forget about this embarrassing little incident and let's move on."

"Alright, thank you, Mark."

"What's happened now?" Canas asked. Fiora and I both jumped. I can't count how many times he did that during our campaign against Nergal, I should really put a bell on him.

"Don't worry about it Canas, we're just going to forget it ever happened."

"Well, if you say so." Canas shrugged, Raven snickered.

"I see you're all early risers." Niime approached us. "That's good, I'd say it's about time for you to be going."

"I agree." I told her. "Thank you, you've given me the next step so it's time for me to act on it." She smiled at me.

"And thank you, you've given me what gives my entire career as a druid meaning." We all packed up what we had and left the hut.

"Goodbye mother. Please come down to the village when you get the chance, I dearly wish for you to meet your grandson. Oh and one other thing..." Canas began conversing with his mother. While we waited, I took a look at Fiora's pegasi.

"It's amazing that's it's perfectly fine despite being in the blizzard last night."

"Pegasi are only native to Ilia, I'm sure they had to adapt so they could live up north like this."

"True enough. Her name was Flora, wasn't it?"

"Yes, that's right. She's been with me since I was little, it takes at least a decade of living with a pegasi for it to allow you to ride it in most cases, that's why we all meet our pegasi really early."

"A decade, really."

"Unless you'er someone the pegasi can immediately trust. There are people like that out there, Florina's one of them. She didn't decide to fight until she turned fourteen, three years ago, but her pegasi, Huey, fully trusted her almost immediately."

"And you?"

"Flora and I have been together since I was six, I was able to ride her at eighteen, that was three years ago now."

"Three years? Well you handle her well for such a short time."

"Mm, thanks. But I get jealous of Florina and Farina sometimes."

"Why, what's wrong with them?"

"Florina is just so trustworthy, everyone, people or animal, are always willing to trust her, it's like a gift she has. Even Flora likes her, and Flora never liked anyone other than me before that. Farina, however, took almost fifteen years before she could ride. She had been riding for less than a year before she had a higher rank than I did."

"Is that so? so, what?" Fiora looked at me quizzically. "You may be the oldest but that doesn't mean you have to outdo them. I remember you always saying that the people of Ilia were your first priority. You fought for those that couldn't. You fought so that you could send money to them and they could live happily. You fought so others wouldn't have to. Farina always had me laughing, Florina was like a cute little kitten, but you, I never had anything but respect for your drive, even if you weren't the strongest around, you always fought for those reasons. Now, Florina is off to become Marquess Ostia's wife and Farina is following her impulses, but you're still here, doing what you said you always would. In my eyes, you're the strongest of your sisters. Frankly, you're one of the people I respect the most."

"Mark... thank you."

"I never say what isn't true." I responded. "I really do think that you're strong, never discount yourself." With that said, I walked up to take a closer look at Flora.

"Mark, don't. She's not particularly friendly to most people." I backed away from Flora, to no avail as she followed me. It was somewhat unnerving to have this large, powerful creature stalking me as I try to move away from it. I stop, hoping she would do the same, but she kept coming and began to nuzzle my neck. It was rather uncomfortable but luckily it didn't last long. Flora moved away from my neck and started licking my hand which I gladly held out for her. "Wow!" Fiora said from behind me. "She usually doesn't like people, at least not that quickly." Raven, who had been quietly looking over the side of the mountain, came over to us.

"You probably smell like Fiora." He said bluntly. I heard a small yelp from behind me. I turned around to see Fiora blushing fiercely, covering her mouth with her hand. I wasn't ready for that comment either and I could feel my face burning this time. "I'm just kidding." Raven said, trying to calm us down. "She's just a nice animal." He reached forward and began to rub Flora's head. I immediately backed away and stood next to Fiora when I saw Flora's nostrils flare. Before he even knew what was happening, Flora had turned and sunk her back hooves into Raven's stomach. Raven lifted off his feet and flew back, throwing the snow up around him. Niime and Canas came running up to us quickly.

"Fool!" Niime said angrily. "You should never approach a pegasi without a skilled handler." She lifted up her walking cane, revealing it to be a heal staff. "Hold still." Niime healed Raven. "Now get out, I don't like having fools at my house." Niime was tough, she even managed to scare Raven off. He got to his feet and went to wait for us in the cave. I couldn't help myself from laughing.

"Thank you, Niime, for all your help." Niime smiled at me and tapped my back with her staff.

"Get going, and good luck."

"Goodbye mother. Please come down to visit sometime, I would love for you to meet Hugh."

"I'll see what I can do."

We left the house shortly after. We followed Canas through the cave again, back to the strange stone and back down the mountain. On the way down, we saw that the corpse of the unknown dragon-being was still lying there. There were no indications that he had become a dragon and we decided that we would leave him. Either he'd be picked up by wild animals, or someone would find him and assume he was attacked by bandits. Either way, we knew we wanted to keep ourselves out of it. We continued to the small village that I had arrived at a few days ago. It feels strange when I think about how much has happened in such a short time. At the entrance to the village, Zealot was waiting for us. His face perked up the moment he saw us.

"You're alright?!" He almost screamed.

"We're fine, Zealot. We continued on to Mark's destination and ended up stranded there for the night due to a small blizzard in the mountain.

"I see, it's such a relief. Yuno's waiting at the mayor's home. We should go show her that you're ok, quickly." Zealot turned and ran into the village, towards the mayor's house. We all followed him along, reaching the mayor's home in no time. Zealot had beaten us there by a wide margin and Yuno was waiting outside, excited that we were back.

"You're all safe!" She said excitedly as she ran up and hugged Fiora.

"Calm down, Yuno. You can't act like this every time someone survives. Now come and help me take Flora to the stable." Yuno and Fiora left to take Flora to a stable that seemed to be somewhere else in town. Zealot pushed the door open.

"Come inside. I rode all night to get the guildmaster down here. He wants to hear more about that dragon we fought." I froze immediately. I had completely forgotten that Zealot and Yuno knew about the dragon. I had hoped to avoid letting the information get out. I started forming a story as I walked into the house. Despite how hard I was thinking, it was all knocked away as soon as I stepped inside.

"Fargus?!" I asked immediately. The man raised his eyebrow.

"You know my brother then?"

"Fargus has a brother?" Canas asked, just as dumbfounded. The man laughed. His laugh was certainly similar to Fargus', but his speech was noticeably different.

"We both left the family at the same time to follow our own dreams. What's he up to nowadays?" I shook my head to get my thought process back.

"Er, he's an, uh, pretty famous pirate right now. At the moment, I believe he's in Badon in the Ostian territory of the Lycia alliance."

"Is he now? Well good for him, that's always what he wanted. Maybe I'll look for a job down there."

"May I ask your name?"

"Riktor, mercenary guildmaster. And you?"

"I'm Canas, an Ilian scholar."

"Raven, a non-guild, travelling mercenary. I joined up with them after the trainees escaped from the battle."

"And I'm Mark, a travelling tactician."

"Mark? The tactician of Fiora's former employer, lord Eliwood?"

"Yes sir."

"Hm, I've heard much praise from our members who were in that army. Florina, Farina and most of all Fiora, all sing your praises. How would you like to help us out here at the guild, if you've got no better jobs at the moment."

"Sorry, sir. But I wish to travel for the time being."

"Well, keep us in mind. We always need people to teach our younger members the finer points of tactics."

"I'll consider it in the future."

"Good good, now that said, please come with me. I heard some disturbing stories about the battle with the bandits and I'd liked to discuss it, if you have no objections." I immediately started working on the story again. The three of us all nodded, it seemed that Canas was preparing a story as well though Raven looked like he was planning on relying on us. Riktor picked up a big axe leaning on the wall and walked into a small room behind him. Zealot didn't follow but motioned for us to follow Riktor. The three of us entered the room as well. Riktor sat down in a chair. "We'll start once Fiora arrives." The rest of us took our seats as well, I was relieved that Fiora had to stable Flora, as it gave us more time to determine our story. She arrived sooner than I would've liked, but I thought I had a believable story... sadly, I doubt it would trick Riktor. May as well try it anyway.

"Now, from what I heard you battled a dragon? A dragon, really?"

"Not exactly sir." I began, trying my best to sound confident. "The bandits had somehow managed to get a hold of a wyvern of Bern and released it while fire mages attacked from behind." Riktor's eyebrow raised. I knew it was an unconvincing story, but I didn't really have the time I would've liked to invent something better. Eventually... Riktor shrugged.

"Sounds good to me." My mouth almost dropped, but I made sure to keep my composure. "If that's all it was then I suppose I should be getting back to the guild. If you all don't mind then I'd like to speak to Mark privately for a moment." The others obeyed and left the room. "So you went to battle with morphs." He said.

"How did you know that?" I said, too surprised to try and keep it hidden.

"Zealot and Yuno heard you say it, they just had no idea what they were."

"And how do you?"

"Fiora, Florina and Farina told me when they got back. I was the only one who heard about it though."

"I see... then I think I can assume that you didn't really believe me about the wyvern."

"Do I look like a child?"

"No sir, I'll tell you what little I know. Though I have to ask why you asked the others to leave?"

"If too many people hear about it, then it could accidentally slip out. If the morphs are back, then someone must be pulling their strings. keeping the fact that someone with as much manpower under him as I have knows a secret, can only be considered advantageous."

"I see, so I can trust in your support, if necessary."

"Of course."

"Alright then, the truth of the matter is that we really know very little about what we fought. However, I did meet with Niime, hermit of the mountains and she had some theories." I spent some time explaining the battle, what had happened and my meeting with Niime. Riktor merely listened, not speaking until I was finished.

"I see, this is a serious issue. I'll be sending mercenaries on more patrols now, and I'll try to get in contact with the lords of other countries. Certainly, as a mercenary I can't do much, but hopefully I'll be able to bend the ears of at least a few of them."

"Keep it under wraps, and only speak to the lords you know won't overreact. Keep it away from Desmond, King of Burn, for sure. Silver wolf Dayan of Sacae should be told as should Marquess Reglay of Etruria and Marquess' Ostia and Pherae of the Lycian alliance. I'm just worried that, should the wrong people be told, they'll use it as an excuse to attack the enemies that they would've been unable to before."

"You're right, of course. I'll do what I can to garner support, but it'll be on the basis of a worst-case scenario."

"I agree that that would be best. For the time being, I'll be searching around myself and I'll be sure to get word to you if anything comes up."

"I must say... you're quick to trust, aren't you?"

"I can't see any advantage the mercenary guild would have for this information, and if you meant me harm then I would've found your axe in me the moment the door was closed." Riktor smirked.

"You're smart kid. May I ask where you're heading next?"

"Bern, as per Niime's instructions. I plan to meet with an old friend or two who are likely in prince Zephiel's employ. There's another friend somewhere in Bern, if I can find him, I may just hire him as an informant as well."

"I see then."

"Now, let's straighten out our stories as to why we spoke for so long."

"Leave that to me. I know exactly why, you get some rest. I also have a little gift for you, you'll receive it in the morning, though I most likely won't be here to see you off." I stood and walked to the door.

"Alright then, thank you. I pray that our contingency plan will be unnecessary and the next time we meet it is under more relaxed circumstances."

"We can only pray to St. Elimine." I left the room, the only one waiting outside was Fiora."

"Where'd the others go?" I asked her. Canas and Raven both returned to Canas' home. Canas also said that you're invited to stay with him for another night."

"Thanks for the message, I'll head over there. I'll be leaving for Bern in the morning. If we don't see each other, then goodbye and thank you for your help." Fiora nodded and went to meet up with Riktor. I left to Canas' house. He invited me right in, Raven was in visiting though, as expected, he wasn't being particularly sociable. Unexpectedly, he seemed to be doing rather well with Hugh. He was even holding him.

"So will you be staying?" Canas asked me as we sat down with Raven and Emily.

"If it's no imposition, then yes, that would be nice."

"Where're you planning to go next?" Raven asked as he handed Hugh back to Emily.

"Bern is my next stop. I need to meet with Zephiel or Hellene, so I'm hoping to find Vaida."

"makes as much sense as any other plan. I'll be on my way to Bern as well. I have to take a little trek around the mountain tonight to report that the bandits are gone and collect my pay, then I'll come back and leave with you in the morning."

"Sounds good to me, thanks Raven." Raven nodded, said his goodbyes, and left.

"Thank you for offering me your home for another night." I said, bowing to Emily. She smiled, serenely.

"It's not a problem, Mark. It's a pleasure having one of Canas' friends over." I sat down next to Emily to get a closer look at Hugh, Who was sleeping soundly in her arms. I spent some time speaking with Emily and Canas about various topics. It felt so nice to have a break from everything that had happened the last few days. I put the thought that I'd be charging headlong into it again, starting tomorrow, out of my head. Many mysteries had popped up out of nowhere, very few seem to have an answer in sight. With any luck, I'd at least learn my next step if I get to the shrine of seals. I spent the time with Canas' family, we later ate and I turned in early, with plans to leave early in the morning.

Night came and went. I woke up early and left the house. I had said my goodbyes the night before and left without waking my gracious hosts, leaving a handful of coins on the table as thanks. Raven was waiting outside.

"Good, you're up. Ready to go?" I nodded.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Fiora came running up to us with Flora in tow. Raven and I looked at her questioningly. "Why are you guys looking at me like that. I'll be going with Mark, of course."

"What?" I asked.

"You and Riktor. your private talk yesterday. He offered a bodyguard and you accepted, did you just wake up? You're usually not this slow." Riktor's little 'gift', which I had completely forgotten about over the course of yesterday, suddenly dawned on me. I scratched the back of my head.

"Right, right. Of course, sorry. Good to have you along, Fiora." Fiora smiled at us and mounted Flora.

"If that's settled, then let's get going already." Raven demanded, taking point."

"He's right, let's move."

"To Bern?" I nodded.

"Keep your eyes on the air, we're looking for Vaida."


	5. The Fire Emblem

Phew... here's another chapter, sorry, had myself a bout of depression, it happens.

Enjoy

* * *

I stretched and sat down next to the campfire. I had been on the road for a little over a week now, with Raven and Fiora. We'd been camping for some time now. There aren't many towns near the Ilian/Bern border. Due, most likely, to the strained relationship between the two countries. Personally, I believe it's due to Bern's elitest attitude, being the place founded by the leader of the eight legends, in contrast to the fact that Ilia doesn't even have a proper ruler. Either way, it's a great inconvenience to my travels.

"We should reach Bern's capital tomorrow." Fiora said as she sat down next to me.

"Hopefully Vaida's there. Or Heath, if he wasn't chased out again."

"I'm not sure what happened to them. I'm pretty certain that Vaida returned to serve prince Zephiel. I don't know about Heath, though. I know that he wanted to stay with Priscilla, but I'm pretty sure he was chased away."

"Shame, those two were really in love."

"Well, to be fair, Priscilla had a number of admirers. Even those quiet ones, like Guy and Erk, were among them. And Sain... but he's Sain." I laughed, remembering Sain's antics during our campaign. We had a couple of people in our group that always had me laughing, even when things seemed to be at their worst. Serra, Sain, and Farina came immediately to mind.

"Yeah, Sain was always fun. Well, fun to watch." Fiora sighed.

"Food." Raven said coming up behind us and dropping a bunch of fish in front of us.

"Nice catch, I never would've guessed that you knew how to fish."

"Gotta have some way to eat when you don't have a steady place to stay. Can't cook 'em to save my life though, Lucius always did that." I pulled a small knife out of my robe.

"Well, I can at least cook some fish."

"Whatever happened to Lucius?" Fiora asked Raven as I started preparing the fish.

"I don't know. I just left after that last battle of ours. Haven't seen him since then."

"Wasn't he your friend?"

"Maybe, I suppose. But he's not made to run around the whole continent like I'm doing. He'd break down too quickly, I'm better off making this trek on my own." I stuck the fish onto some sticks and placed them near the fire to cook.

"So why are you travelling like this?" I asked him.

"Nothing else to do. House Ostia had nothing to do with my family. I have no leads and even if I did, I can see that revenge isn't worth anything. So now I just plan to travel the continent until the day I die. Or get killed. Probably the latter."

"Why would you say something like that?" Fiora asked him, seeming concerned.

"For most of my life I had one thing pushing me along, and that was revenge. Then a second thing came along, defeating Nergal. I felt reluctant at first, but I really felt like it was a reason to live. For a short time, the two overlapped, but soon, as I spoke to Hector, revenge disappeared. Nergal's gone and now there's nothing left. So I'm just gonna live the only way I know how, moving from place to place and being in battle as much as possible, that's how I'll die." Fiora looked at him, with a look that seemed half pity and half disgust.

"If that's what you want then I won't stop you." I told him. "It's not my place to tell you how you should live." I handed him one of the cooked fish. It was an incredibly rudimentary way to cook them, but they were edible. Raven finished it in two bites and went for another. Fiora started taking many quick, small bites of hers. I don't eat much, so I just took one and ate it at a slow pace. Fiora started sniffing. she sneezed with a very high-pitched sound. I covered my mouth and started giggling. "You sound like a kitten." I said between laughs.

"So?"

"Nothing... it just amuses me for some reason. I think I'm tired. We should reach the capital tomorrow, let's get some rest." Raven finished his fourth fish and nodded in agreement. He laid down next to the fire. As per usual, he always kept his shield and weapons within reach. Raven impressed me. I doubt that I'd ever be able to sleep so soundly without a blanket or my robe.

"Well, goodnight then." Fiora said as she stood and walked over to Flora. They curled up together next to a tree. Fiora laid curled up in front of Flora and Flora curled her wings up, covering Fiora to keep her warm. I pulled my arms into my robe and found a comfortable spot near the fire. one thing we knew was that all three of us could fall asleep in a moment, which was very useful for sleeping as soon as we ate and waking together to get ht most out of each day's travel.. But this time, things weren't going to go my way.

All of my dreams were based on the visions I saw at the dragon's gate when we defeated Nergal. Some call it a gift, others might call it a curse. When I'm near someone who's dying, I see visions. As the saying goes, when someone dies they see their life flash before their eyes. So do I. I get visions, a dying persons life flashes through my mind. Nergal had been alive for much longer than most humans and so there were more visions to see. They all piled on top of one another, putting a heavy strain on my mind. usually, this isn't an issue. The visions come and go with little difficulty and it doesn't last a particularly long time, however Nergal was different. Nergal had many visions, but it wasn't only that. Much of the pain came from sadness, the story held within Nergal's visions was truly tragic. I had to get them out of my mind somehow. I patted my face a few times and stood up. The fire was dead. The sun was just coming up over the horizon. It was dawn. I was parched. I went down to the river that was just a short walk from our campsite. I dipped my hand into the water and brought it to my mouth. The water was cold and refreshing. I scooped some more up and splashed it on my face. Washing the sweat off my face this morning, felt really good. I heard a small splash from the other side of the river. I shook the water from my face and looked up. It was Fiora... bathing. I froze. Her back was turned to me and she hadn't noticed I was there. How exactly she had escaped my notice I wasn't sure, but I knew that I had to get out of there before she turned around. On the other shore, Flora was lying with her head close to the ground but it was clear that she was staring at me. I shook my head slowly, begging her not to make a fuss as I stood up and started to back away. I walked slowly, step after step, trying to be as silent as possible. I heard a small snap beneath me. Fiora's back went erect. She covered her chest as she slowly turned around. She screamed as soon as she saw me. I heard birds flying out of the trees.

"What are you doing!?" She screamed at me. I've never heard Fiora sound so mad before and frankly, I was scared.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to do anything, I just didn't notice you." I answered quickly.

"You didn't... how did you not notice someone bathing in the river."

"I was just washing my face and waking up. Sorry." Fiora still looked angry and on top of that I could the branches rustling behind me. Fiora, I assume in anger, uncovered herself and stood up. I was completely frozen and I thought she was about to kill me when Raven came flying through the trees with his sword drawn. He froze as well. The three of us stood there, unmoving for a few seconds which felt like hours. This was finally broken when Fiora screamed, covered herself again and dropped back under the water. Both Raven and I ran away at that point. We ran until we got back to our camp. I bent over with my hands on my knees and panted while Raven checked behind us.

"What the hell happened?"

"I went to get a drink and didn't notice her." Raven looked at me in disbelief.

"You didn't notice her?" Raven just shook his head in pity.

"What's that for?" I asked him.

"Shame, if you'd noticed her then I'm sure you could've had a much better experience with it." My eye twitched. I'm not sure if Raven was joking or if those were his actual thoughts, either way, I didn't agree.

"Whatever." I said as I stood up.

"There you are." Fiora and Flora landed in the camp. She was, of course, fully clothed and seemed much calmer now. "What happened?"

"It was an accident, sorry." I responded calmly. She sighed.

"Fine, be careful from now on. I don't want to leave a contract but if this keeps happening I'll gladly throw you to the wolves." I backed up a bit. I've never quite heard Fiora talk so intensely and I made a mental note to stay off of her bad side.

"We're alright then?" Fiora sighed again.

"It's fine, let's just keep moving." Fiora picked up her bag from the ground and attached it to Flora's saddle. She then mounted Flora and took off.

"I'd say she's still mad, though you'll probably never hear about this again." Raven commented as he walked by me. I sighed. I packed up my stuff and ran to catch up to my companions.

It turned out that we were farther from our destination than I had thought. I could see the sun setting in the west

"There it is." Raven said plainly. Fiora landed next to us.

"What are we looking for again?" She asked.

"Vaida or Heath, I need to speak to either Queen Helene or Prince Zephiel." I answered. Raven stared up at the sky

"Wyverns everywhere." He commented. I looked up. He was right, during my time with Eliwood we never came to the capital of Bern, but now that we're here I'm surprised at how many Wyvern riders are flying around nearby.

"Amazing." I muttered. As I was looking at the many different Wyverns I noticed a purplish one flying apart from the rest. "Does that look like Umbriel to you two?"

"I'll check." Fiora said as she mounted Flora. The majority of the Wyvern riders flying around began to distance themselves from Fiora as she flew into the sky.

"I see Pegasi knights are as unliked as ever." Raven said. I nodded. Before long, Fiora returned with the purple Wyvern following her. The armored knight Dismounted and removed her helmet. I was very pleased with how easy it was to find a familiar face, though I knew that it wasn't going to be

"What're you doing here?" the familiar woman asked rudely.

"Good to see you again, Vaida." I greeted. Vaida smirked

"Heh, you too, Mark, you too. So what brings you here?"

"I've got something to do and in order to do it I'm going to need a certain object from Bern." Vaida looked at me suspiciously.

"Go on. What is it?"

"The Fire Emblem." I answered hesitantly. Fiora and Raven both looked at me like I was crazy.

"You didn't just say what I think you said." She answered threateningly.

"Whoa whoa, I'm not demanding the emblem or anything I was just wondering whether you could get me in to speak Queen Hellene or Prince Zephiel. Vaida stared at me for a moment.

"Fine, but only because you saved the prince before. I can't let you see him, since I'm no longer a royal rider, but I can arrange a meeting with the Queen."

"That would be wonderful, thank you." I said happily.

"There's a tavern in the capital called the Black Wyvern." She handed me a medallion with a Wyvern on it. "Show this to the barkeeper and tell him that you want to meet the Dracoguard so you can deliver a message from the Dragon Queen, he'll know what to do. Wait there until I come to get you." Vaida put her helmet back on while muttering something about how much of a pain I was and took off on Umbriel.

"Either of you ever been to the capital?" I asked. Both Raven and Fiora shook their heads. "Well, let's go then." I started back towards the capital. We broke off our side path and joined the main road, which was swamped with people and wagons. Bern's capital was a major hub of activity, a lot of trading happened between it and the major territories in Lycia. Luckily it usually stays open to anyone, except in times of war. I count my blessings that King Desmond doesn't know our faces, as we're likely on his blacklist for stopping Zephiel's assassination. We entered the enormous city and quickly moved to the side to keep off the road. Fiora was receiving a lot of strange looks, not surprising considering she brought a pegasi with her to Bern.

"We should find a place for Flora to stay." Fiora told us. We started looking around and I saw a large stable right next to the entrance.

"There's a stable over there." I pointed towards the stable. "Let's see if we can leave her there." Fiora held tightly to Flora's reins as we pushed our way through the people to the stable. A young girl was inside.

"Hello." She greeted us happily.

"Is it possible for me to leave my mount here for some time."

"Um... do you mean the pegasi?"

"Yes, of course."

"Um... I'm not so sure about that..." The girl trailed off.

"What's going on?" An older man approached us from behind the girl.

"Oh, Daddy. Um, they want to leave the pegasi here." The man crossed his arm.

"Sorry miss, this is a Wyvern stable. I don't have any supplies to take care of Pegasi, let alone any knowledge on how to."

"Oh don't worry about that, pegasi require a surprisingly small amount of care, and I'll pay an extra fee and find the food myself."

"How long?"

"Um, I don't know... we're waiting for a visit from someone." The man sighed.

"Bring her to the back, we'll discuss the fee." Fiora took Flora's reins and they went into the back. Raven and I waited for her to go back.

"Look at all the wyverns." Raven commented as he looked around. The place was filled with Wyverns.

"Makes sense, Wyverns are less picky about their riders, so there's plenty of Wyvern knights in Bern. They can't exactly keep them at their houses."

"True enough." Fiora came back out of the back after a minute or two.

"How'd it go?"

"Expensive, hopefully we won't be here for too long. The little girl seems to like Flora, hopefully she doesn't get hurt." The stable owner came out behind her.

"I'll try to take care of your mount, be back as soon as you can though."

"Of course. One more question, can you point us towards the Black Wyvern?" The stable owner gave us directions and sent us on our way. We reached the Black Wyvern, which was hidden away in the corner of a back alley. Raven pushed the door open and entered first, Fiora and I followed close behind him. Most of the customers were large, rough looking men. As we walked through towards the bar, I noticed a few of the men eyeing Raven and Fiora's weapons. Some of the others stared lewdly at Fiora. I wasn't particularly comfortable being in a place like this without any combat abilities to speak of. Raven glared around the place, fingering his sword the entire time. We reached the counter and Raven stepped aside to let me through. I put my hand on the table as the bartender glared at me.

"I have a message from the Dragon Queen, I need to speak to the dracoguard." I said as calmly as I could. The bartender scoffed at me. I moved my hand from the counter revealing the medallion Vaida had given me. The bartender stared at it for a second, then nodded at me.

"Follow me." He said gruffly as he came out from behind the counter and opened a door to the back of the bar. The three of us followed him into the back room. He opened a hidden trap door and led us down into a basement. I couldn't help but wonder what could be down here. We came to one last door. He pushed it open. "You got visitors." He announced to the person inside. Once I got a glimpse of the man sitting in the room a smile jumped on my faith.

"Heath." I greeted him. He looked up from the map he had been examining and smiled at us.

"Mark, Raven, Fiora." he said as he stood.

"Good to see you again Heath." Fiora said. Raven moved towards Heath and drew his sword. Heath jumped back and drew his own sword. "Raven stop!"

"What's wrong Raven?"

"Weren't you supposed to be with my sister?" Raven pointed the tip of his blade at Heath and narrowed his eyes. I felt helpless as I watched Raven's anger towards Heath take over. You can say what you want about him, but he's nothing if not a devoted brother.

"I wish I could be." Heath answered, holding his sword in front of him to guard. "But I'm a traitor to my original country, they ran me out of Etruria within days." Raven swung his sword at him.

"And you didn't fight your way back?"

"I'm working towards it, but I can't just go back. What am I supposed to do, kill every member of the Etrurian court?" Raven stopped and sheathed his sword. There was still contempt in his eyes but he turned away from Heath without another word and walked out into the hallway. Heath breathed a sigh of relief and sheathed his sword. "What brings you here? And a better question is how did you know where to find me?"

"Vaida sent us. I asked her to get me an audience with queen Hellene and she told us to wait here with you."

"I see... what do you need to see the queen for?"

"I need to borrow the Fire Emblem for a bit."

"That's one steep request, I hope you're not expecting anything."

"I'm not, but it can't hurt to ask. Now it's my turn. What exactly are you doing down in a basement like this, and what's with the codenames."

"Both Vaida and I have been branded traitors by king Desmond, and we aren't the only ones. Many of the former royal Wyvern knights have been thrown out of the castle. So we're a secret organization who work under the queen without the king's knowledge. Our one and only duty is to ensure the safety of Prince Zephiel. Everyone you saw up in the tavern is among our ranks, most others get scared away very quickly."

"I see, and knowing how much the King hates the prince... I suppose you need to be able to keep a low profile."

"Indeed, as far as we're concerned, the royal family must believe that we don't exist. They know, of course. They've begun calling us the tainted wyrms and Desmond has given orders to hunt us down and eliminate us but thanks to the armor that Wyvern riders wear, they've been having trouble."

"So... then Vaida is your leader?" Fiora spoke up. Heath shook his head. "No, our leader is the only member who is not in hiding and still remains a member of the royal guard. His name is Murdock, the prince's bodyguard." I nodded my head.

"That makes sense, you'd need an inside man and with him on both sides it would be much easier to hide your identities." Heath nodded.

"You understand, I see. I'm not sure how long Vaida will be, sometimes she can speak to the queen immediately and other times we have to wait days before a time opens up. With any luck, she'll be back by tonight. If I may ask, how long have you all been travelling?"

"Little over a week." I yawned.

"The beds won't be particularly comfortable, but if you're tired there are rooms you can use. Three doors down on the left." I nodded drowsily.

"Thanks Heath, I'll take you up on that." Fiora nodded as well.

"Thanks."

"Oh, and don't be mad at Raven, he just wants Priscilla to be happy even though he can't bring himself to go back."

"I know, don't worry." I nodded and left the room with Fiora. We found Raven and brought him with us to the room so he could rest as well. We were all down within no time at all. Heath woke us up the next morning.

"Mark, Vaida's back. Get up." I rubbed my eyes and sat up. Heath went to wake up Fiora and Raven. Raven didn't seem happy that Heath was near him but he shrugged it off and got up. I put on my robes, yawned and left the room. Fiora and Raven followed behind me.

"There you are." Vaida said rudely as we entered Heath's map room. "The queen will meet with you, I haven't told her what you want though." I perked up upon hearing the news.

"Really, Vaida? Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's hurry up and get going, the queen's only going to wait so long." The patrons of the Black Wyvern greeted us as we came out of the back.

"I spoke to them last night." Heath told us. "They know you as an ally now. I nodded to them as we left. The stable owner was pleased that Fiora was back so quickly, though his daughter looked sad to see Flora go.

"Sorry, but we have to go." Fiora said to her. The girl pet Flora until we had settled up with the owner and we left. The girl sadly waved to us as we left. Vaida and Heath led us outside and around the city to a secret stable where the Black Wyverns kept their mounts.

"If you come back, feel free to leave your mount here, Fiora."

"Thank you, I wish Vaida had told us about this earlier." Vaida shrugged, uncaring. Vaida came out with Umbriel and Heath mounted Hyperion.

"You'll have to ride with us." Heath told us. "Queen Helene is currently in a vacation home in the mountains, accessible only through flight. Raven walked away from Heath and tried to mount Umbriel with Vaida. Vaida and Raven argued back and forth. I sighed.

"I guess I'll ride with you Heath."

"W-wait." Fiora stopped me. "I'm your bodyguard, you should ride with me."

"Will I actually be able to ride Flora?" I asked reluctantly. Fiora rubbed Flora's mane.

"She'll be fine... I think." I gave in and tried to mount Flora with Fiora. Flora seemed OK with me, which was surprising.

"I heard that pegasi don't like people who aren't their partner riding them."

"Well, that's not quite true. Pegasi and their partners have a kind of bond and they can sense each other's emotions to an extent. Flora will let people who I love or respect ride them, as long as I'm riding her as well. Florina, Farina and I have all ridden each other's pegasi."

"I see, well it's nice to know I have your respect." I said happily.

"Ready to go now?" Vaida asked. It seemed that Raven had broken her down and was currently riding on Umbriel. I wrapped my arms around Fiora's waist. Her back stiffened a little and Heath smirked at her.

"I'm ready to go." I told them.

"Alright, let's go." Umbriel took off, followed by Hyperion. Flora took up the rear of our group. We flew towards a mountain range that was several hours away from the city. We landed at a large mansion on a plateau near the top which appeared to be completely inaccessible by land. Raven and I unmounted and stretched our legs. Flying for so long really made me stiff. Fiora, Heath and Vaida all seemed fine, I guess it's something you get used to. Vaida opened the door to the mansion and led us inside. We passed through into an extravagant living room.

"Wait here, I'll bring the queen along. Not that I suspect you guys or anything, but Heath, keep an eye on them." Heath nodded and took up guard in front of the door as Vaida left.

"No offense guys, but we can't risk anything."

"We understand." I told Heath as I sat on the sofa. It wasn't comfortable, must've been there for decoration more than anything else. Raven sat in the corner, as far away from Heath as he could and stared off into space. Fiora sat next to me. We sat and chatted if we could find a topic, otherwise the time passed in silence. Eventually, Vaida returned, she and Heath stood on opposite sides of the door as queen Hellene entered.

"I recognize you." She said without greeting. "You were with the group that saved my son. Vaida informed me that you have a favour to ask of me." I got on one knee and Fiora did the same. Raven sat in the corner without a care in the world.

"Yes, your highness. I understand that what I'm about to ask is a truly ridiculous request, but I would like to borrow the fire emblem." Hellene's eyes widened.

"How could you even ask such a thing!?" She exclaimed unbelieving. "What use would you possibly have for the emblem." I kept my calm and answered.

"Your highness, I would like to investigate the shrine of seals. Only the fire emblem can open the shrine." Hellene seemed to calm down a little.

"I see, even so I can't risk allowing you to borrow the fire emblem. Zephiel has been crowned the rightful heir to the throne, but if the emblem is lost then he can never ascend. For all we know, you were sent here by Desmond."

"If I may, your highness." Heath spoke up. "If they were sent by Desmond, then our headquarters would've been overrun by soldiers last night. I honestly believe them."

"Yes, Heath. But you have a soft spot for these ones." Vaida chastised him. "You're a member of the Black Wyverns, you can't show such sentiments."

"Enough, both of you. Either way, I cannot allow you to borrow the emblem."

"Mother." We all turned back towards the door. Zephiel stood in the doorway with Murdock behind

"My apologies, your highness. I was unaware you were entertaining guests. Come Zephiel, let's go elsewhere." Zephiel pulled away from Murdock.

"Mother, please allow them to borrow the emblem.


End file.
